GREENVILLE — A series of injuries and setbacks has prematurely ended the playing career of East Carolina redshirt junior Marshall Guilmette announced head coach Jeff Lebo Monday.

“We are deeply saddened that Marshall will be unable to continue his basketball career,” Lebo said. “We were very much looking forward to having him as a part of our program for the next two seasons, but his long-term health is far more important at this stage of his young life.”

Guilmette missed 44 games during his first three years in a Pirate uniform, including 11 games last season. He was sidelined for all but five games of the 2013-14 season and missed the final four contests of the previous year.

“It has been nothing but an honor to play here at ECU,” Guilmette said. “I want to thank the entire staff and all my teammates for the opportunities that they have given me during my time here.”

As a redshirt sophomore a year ago, Guilmette played in the first two games before missing 11 of the next 12 and returning to action in early January. During the final seven games of the season, he averaged 10.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 26.0 minutes per game in helping the Pirates reach the quarterfinals of The American Basketball Championship.

“Marshall was one of the hardest workers in our program and someone that we were counting on this season,” Lebo stated. “While this is a tremendous blow to our team, it’ll give others the opportunity to step up and fill his role.”

As a freshman, Guilmette played in 31 games and averaged 4.0 points and 2.3 rebounds per contest. Injuries limited him to just 10 total minutes in the final three games heading into the postseason, where he only played one minute against Savannah State in the first round of the CIT before being shut down for the remainder of the year.

Guilmette, a member of the 2013 and ’14 Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll, is on track to graduate this spring with a degree in business.

He averaged 5.1 points and 2.9 rebounds in 58 career games played.